Consumer News

AG Derek Schmidt: Former Corinthian College students to receive federal student loan cancellation

Release Date: May 23, 2017

TOPEKA – (May 23, 2017) – Kansas students who attended for-profit Corinthian Colleges will soon receive notice that they are eligible for cancellation of federal student loans used to attend those schools, Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt said today.

More than 450 Kansas residents who attended schools operated by Corinthian Colleges Inc. – including Everest Institute, Everest College, Everest University, Heald College, and WyoTech – will receive letters from Schmidt’s office beginning this week explaining the relief available and how to apply for it. If a student’s federal loan is canceled, the student will not have to make further payments on the loan and any payments already made will be refunded.

After intense scrutiny by various government entities, for-profit Corinthian Colleges abruptly ceased operations in 2015, transferring some of its campuses to a non-profit called Zenith Education Group. The U.S. Department of Education then found that while it was operating, Corinthian Colleges made widespread misrepresentations between 2010 and 2014 about post-graduation employment rates.

“Students in Kansas and around the nation were misled by the inaccurate information provided to them by this for-profit college,” Schmidt said. “As a result of our involvement in this multi-state investigation, these students will not be left holding student loan debt from these now-defunct institutions.”

Students who were enrolled at one of these colleges within the time period of the U.S. Department of Education’s findings of fraud are eligible for a special “streamlined” process to discharge their federal student loans, and will receive notification from the attorney general’s office. However,any student who attended Corinthian Colleges and believes that the school misrepresented job prospects, the transferability of credits, or other issues may apply to have their federal student loans canceled using the Department of Education’s universal discharge application. More information is available on the attorney general’s consumer protection website at www.InYourCornerKansas.org.

Schmidt also warned that students should beware of student loan forgiveness scams. The U.S. Department of Education never charges application or maintenance fees for loan forgiveness. Any solicitation to provide this information for a fee should be considered suspicious.

Any student who attended Corinthian Colleges and believes that the school lied about job prospects, the transferability of credits, or other issues may apply to have their federal student loans canceled using the Department of Education’s universal discharge application at https://borrowerdischarge.ed.gov. More information is available at https://studentaid.ed.gov/borrower-defense.